The first thing I did was audit the entire application — every screen, every component, every recurring pattern — to understand not just what existed, but what should exist.
From that audit I built the fully documented system from the ground up: principles first, then color, typography, spacing, and an independent component library that engineering could adopt incrementally alongside the Vue migration. I collaborated with engineering and product to name the system, define its principles, and integrate it into the codebase. I worked with product and internal users to redesign several high-volume core workflows using the new components.
By the time of my exit, the platform had fully transitioned to Vue and was running end-to-end on the design system. Onboarding was smoother. The interface spoke one language.